Sound-deadening fiber board



Aug. 5 $e J. K. SHAW sown DEADENING FIBER BOARD 22 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed ADIil 29 i920 bh L:

Patented Aug. 5, 1924.-

UNITED STATES 1,503,605 PATENT OFFlCE.

JO'HN K. SHAW, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO 0. F. DAHLBI'IRG, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

sounn-nnnnniime FIBER BOARD.

Application filed April 29, 1920. Serial No. 377,549.

To alZ whom it may concern! Be it known that I, JOHN K. SHAW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sound Deadening Fiber Board; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

This invention relates to a fiber board composed of interlaced fibers having at least one of its surfaces composed of hair in order to increase its sound deadening properties, and has for its object to provide a board of this character which will be more efiicient in use and'less expensive to manufacture than those heretofore proposed.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel parts'and combinations of parts constituting the finished board, all as will be .more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly point ed out in theclaims.

Referring to theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this specification in which like numerals designate like parts in all the views v Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of an apparatus suitable for making a fiber board in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the dispositionof the individual 'fibers during the making of the-board, and

before reaching the traveling surface;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 illustrating the action of the traveling surface upon the individual fibers; and,

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a fiber board made inaccordance with this invention, and before it passes the finishing rolls.

In order that the precise invention may be the more clearly understood it is said that fiber boards made of paper, and of various kinds-offibers have been heretofore, proposed, but in so far as I am aware, no one I prior to this invention has succeeded in providing layers-of different kinds of interlaced fibers in the same board when oneor more of said layers is composed of hair or a hair like material} In this invention, said layers constitute one integral mass of fibers 'intertangled together, and therefore, the

fiber mass is devoid of the separated layers common in prior boards and which peel,

or divide somewhat after the manner of the leaves of a book. Owing to this peelin or separating action, found in prior fiber boards, it has been found that when said boards are covered with hair, the outer layers, including said hair, would peel off, so that said prior boards have been found unsatisfactory.

1 indicates any suitable tank for holding the stock consisting of water and. cooked fibers, 2 the bottom of said tank, 3 aminclined false bottom located above the bottom 2, 4 a roll or drum near the lower end of said false bottom 3, 5 a plurality of supporting rolls, 6 'a guide and compression roll adjustable on the slide, or other movable Coacting' with the foraminous surface or belt 11, and in close proximity thereto as regards one portion thereof, is the foraminous belt 18, passing over and around the series of guide rolls 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24. Said belt '18 also passes over the compression and guide roll 25 coacting with the compression roll 6, and adjustably mounted on the movable means 26. 27 represents a tension and guide roll, adjustably mounted on the means 28, and 29 an outlet for the water passing through the belt 18, controlled by the gate 30 and adjustable through the handle 31. 32 and 33 represent suitable water seals made of flexible material for the belts 11 and 18 respectively.

35 represents a channel or passage for water and fibers which may be maintained at anydesired hydrostatic head 36, 37 an opening from the channel 35 in to the tank space or chamber 38, and 39 a top or partition separating said chamber or space 38 from the remainder of the tank. 40 represents a second channel for water and pulp fibers, 41 the head thereof,.42 an opening from said channel into the tank chamber or space 43, and 44 a partition which with the partition 39 serves to separate said space 43 from the rest of the tank. 45 represents a third channel for water and fibrs having a head 46, 47 an opening into the tank chamber or space 48, and 49 a partition coa-cting with the partition 44 to segregate said space 48 from the remainder of the tank.

The foregoing construction is, or may be the same as is described and claimed in my copending application, Serial Number 368,- 990, filed March 26, 1919. and entitled, Process of and apparatus for making fiber boards.

The operation of this machine will be understood from what follows It is preferred to use long fibers, but of course, fibers of any usual length may be employed. By reason of the direction of flow of the water through the chambers 38, 43, and 48, and by reason of the natural tendency of the fiowin water to laterally separate said fibers. thelatter will be brought into positions more or less parallel to each other, and more or less perpendicular to the line of travel of the surface 13. while at the same time all of said fibers will occupy positions more or less staggered with relation to their neighbors as shown. Accordingly, a large percentage of the forward ends 61 of said fibers will first contact with said surface 13, and will be carried along by the belt from the positions shown in Figure 2, to those shown in Figure 3, for the rear ends 62 of said fibers will have lagged behind the front ends 61, in the water, so that the front row of said fibers assume a somewhat curved or bent shape. The second row, or those fibers 63 immediately following, and which have not reached the surface 13, but have reached the rear ends 62 of the fibers 60, are now forced by the oncoming water to contact at their forward ends against the curved fibers 60. And, as said fibers 63, originally, due to their parallel positions, as shown at 63 in Figure 2, were more or less staggered or interlaced with the fibers 60 before the latter became curved, it is evident that this interlacing or entangling action between the fibers 60 and 63 will be enhanced or increased by the oncoming water after said curvature takes place.

It results from the actions just described portions of the sheet.

example, as hair like mineral fibers.

traveling surface 13, the entanglement of the fibers is continuous between successive rows; and the pressure of the water causes the, whole to be very loosely assembled in their interlaced positions on said surface, thus forming an open mass of fibers more compact next to the wire than away from it. This mass is carried through the opening into the space 43, with one or more partially curved and partially entangled layers, similar to the fibers 60 and 63, clinging to it.

In said chamber or space 43, other fibers similar to the fibers 64 become interlaced and entangled with the layers on the belt, and the process of entanglement and massing proceeds as before. In the meantime,

other layers of fibers, in all respects similar to the layers 60, 63 and 64, are interlaced, entangled and massed onthe traveling belt 18 from the space. or chamber 48'. This second mass of fibers are carried through the opening 71 by the belt 18, in a condition similar to the fiist mentioned mass that passes the opening 70, and the fibers in the space 43 interlace, and become entangled with said second mass in a manner similar to that described in connection with said first mentioned mass. The result is, owing to these parallel and staggered relations, the fibers int-he space 43, constitute a third mass of fibers which are interlaced and entangled with each other, as well as with each of said first named masses.

' As a result of the foregoing entanglements of the various fibers, and the motion of the surfaces13 and 18, the mass of fibers are carried through the opening 75 between the compression orcompacting rolls 6 and 25, and is formed into the sheet or board 76, all. as will be readily understood.

An important feature of this invention resides not only in being able tothus interlace, or entangle the fibers in the body of the sheet, but also in being able to vary the kind, size and class of fibers in different That is to say, I may feed to the channel 35, one kind of fibers, which may be either cows hair or relatively short or more expensive wood or bagasse fibers, than are those fed to the channel 40, which may be bagasse fibers, for example, and I may feed to the channel 45, the same. class of fibers as are fed to the channel 35, or I may feed a. totally difi'erent class of fibers, such, fpr

11 other words, I may provide as many channels 35, 40 and 45 as there are different characters of fibers in the finished board, and I may placein the first channel 35 and in the last channel 45 any characters of hair or hair like fibers I desire, whereupon the board will be provided with an outer layer 77 corresponding to the fibers that are fed to the channel 35, with another outer layer 78 corresponding to the fibers that are fed to the channel 45, and with one "or more intermediate layers 79 corresponding to the character of the fibers which are fe to the channel 40 and to any other channels which may be located intermediate of the channels 35 and 45.

But, t-heimportant feature to be emphasized in this invention is the fact that no matter how many kinds of hair or hair like fibers, or how many layers of fibers that are present in the finished board, the fibers of. each layer will be interlaced or entangled.

with the fibers of its adjacent layer, so that the board will not consist of'separate and distinct layers, as is common in ordinary fiber boards, and somewhat like the leaves of a book that can-be peeled off, but its body portion will consist of fibers that are firmly interwoven, and its outer layers will be firmly interwoven with said body portion.

The interlacing. process is facilitated by the fact that the openings 37, 42 and 47 are of a less area than are the spaces 38, 4:3 and 48 into which the fibers are led. In'other words, the fibers must first pass through the openings at a relatively high velocity and in a comparatively close relation to each other; and they are then immediately released into awider space where they take on a lesser velocity, and naturally spread out as they pass along with the water, thus assuming the parallel relations indicated in Figure 2.

I further prefer to permit a very large proportion of the water, say; of the same, to escape through the opening 15, while a very much smaller proportion, say 10%, escapes through the opening29.

The gates 16 and 30. are conveniently manipulated to effect this water, while maintaining the desired proper steady flow through the surfaces 13 and18 to produce the .desired results. But, of course, the proportions of water that escape through widely varied according to the results sought in the finished board.

'The rolls 6 and 25 are readily adjusted by the means illustrated to produce any desired compression in the o enings -75 between said rolls, so that the fiber board may be iven any desired degree of porosity. In act, by using relative y large fibers in the channel 40, and relatively fine fibers in the channelsi35 and A5, I am enabled to control the air spaces in the body of the board, and thereby controlits heat insulating qualities. v L 1 The heads 36,41 and 46 of the liquid in the channels 35, 40 and 45 are so maintained that there will be a minimum tendency of liquid to flow between the chambers or spaces 38, 43 and 48. In other words, the

division of the the two-openings mentioned maybe .said layers "and Eossible and thus a minimum tendency of the bers to mix in the said spaces is secured.

From the foregoing it will be clear that my board is devoid of layers that will eel off, and is readily provided with any deslred character of middle fibers 79 and any desired character of outer fibers 77 and 78. I prefer, in producing this board, to make the outer layer 78 of wood fiber which may be of rather an expensive character, so as to give an ornamental finish, to make the center layer of bagasse fiber which is coated with a waterproofin and fireproofing material, such, for examp e, as the residue or pitch like substance which is found in naphthalene tanks after the chlorinating process, and I prefer to make the other outer layer 77 of cows hair. That is to say, the channel 35 would be fed with fibers of cows hair, the channel 40 of fibers ofbagasse coated with the above mentioned pitch like residue, treated with a suitable solvent, and the channel 45 would contain that character of wood fiber whichit is desired to appear on the outer or exposed surface of the board. By regulating the pressure between the rolls 6 and 25, the said board is given the density or coherence that is found most suitable for the particular purpose in hand, and the cows hair is found to greatly increase its sound deadening properties.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of the construction and composition of the board without departing from the spirit fore I do not wish to be limited to the above disclosure, except as may be required by the claims. 1

What I. claim is 1. A fiber board composed of difierent layers of interlaced fibers, one of said layers being fireproofed and one. of said layers composed of hair, and all of said fibers being interlaced throughout the body portion of said board, substantially as described.

2. A fiber board layers of interlaced fibers, composed of fireproofed bagasse fibers, one of said layers composed of wood fibers, and one of said layers composed of hair, substantially as described. n i

3. A fiber board composed of different kinds of fibers segregated in layers, said fibers being interlaced among themselves in between said layers; the fibers of an intermediate layer bein larger and having larger air spaces there etween than the fibers of the outer layers; and one of said outer layers being composed of hair, substantially as described.

4. A fiber board composed of different kinds of fibers segregated in layers, said fibers being interlaced among themselves in one of said layers composed 'of difierent said layers and between said layers; the fibers of an intermediate layer being fireproofed and larger and havinglarger air spaces therebetween than the fibers of the outer layers; one of said outer layers being composed of fibers havlng an ornamenta appearance and one of sand outer layers being composed of hair, substantially as described.

5. The herein described sound deademng and heat insulating fiber board composed of an outer layer of high grade wood fibers;

an inner layer of bagasse fibers, water and fireproofed with a pitch like substance obtained from chlorinating naphthalene compounds, the fibers of said .innerlayer being of a size larger than the fibers of said outer layer, and interlaced therewith; and an outer layer of hair fibers also interlaced with said inner layer of fibers, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JOHN K. SHAW. 

